Summery

Yesterday provided fair weather for the election, though people have been voting since mid September.  I enjoyed the warm sunshine but didn't see much.  I missed a mockingbird in the beautyberry.  Small insects, about half the size of the cabbage white I saw, flitted through the opening over the pool.  An orb web snagged seed fluff from the saltbushes and a magic leaf.  I saw other spider threads but no actual spiders.  Yellow jackets explored the camellia.  

Today continued warm and mostly sunny and more humid.  At breakfast, a flock of birds hunted dogwood berries.  I saw a mockingbird and a blue jay and a flicker and something I couldn't identify because the birds were obscured by leaves.  Meanwhile the creak mirrored the early light that had not yet reached its surface.  The red maple flamed and the oak shed gold leaves.  Clouds blew from the Southwest and mid afternoon congealed into a threatening mass, but it dissipated.  After dark, a moth was lured to a window.  

 

Lovely day

Another summer day strayed into October, so I went swimming again and the cool, clear water sparkled.  A blue tailed skink perched on the handle of the skimmer waiting for rescue.  Its tale was not blue from the cold water but I let it warm up instead of posing.  I rescued some black ground beetles and a small brown click beetle.  A fat, tan spider lurked on the one remaining rescue twig.  When I came back with the camera it was hidden behind the stick.  A drowned wasp or bee floated amid bubbles.  Another big web was going up between the house and the dogwood where the birdhouse hangs.  

Chickadees came for seeds, blue jays chattered in the trees, and I heard a rattle that might have been a woodpecker.  The saltbush was budding and the milkweed seeds bobbed in the breeze.  

Figs

In the morning, the sun spotlighted the orchard spider.  I checked out the fig trees because I wondered about the effects of the drought.  They were ripening and then drying right on the branches.  Neither birds not insects seemed to have paid them much attention, though something I couldn't see was moving around in the higher foliage. And I startled a large insect in a nearby (not fig) bush.  My picking was well-timed as rain fell in the afternoon and evening.  Probably the ripe figs I couldn't reach will rot.  

Judging from paw prints and sand, a raccoon had been washing its supper on the pool step.  My only rescues from the water were a couple of beetles and a spider.  I saw egrets flying and a blue jay that may have been headed for the figs.  A skink came out and basked on the step.  During lunch we saw a hummer visit the milkweed and a palamedes swallowtail fly quickly across the patio.  Titmice squabbled over the feeder.  

Goldfinch pair

The temperature dropped overnight and only rose into the low 70s during the day.  I stayed out of the water.  K put a fresh feeder out and a female hummer visited.  I poured some barkbutter balls on the ground for crows.  There were white flecks on one crow's right wing.  A crow took a bath but I don't know if it was the same one..  

A pair of goldfinches checked out the dishes but not the seeds.  Bluebirds, mockingbirds, and a blue jay came for barkbutter balls.  The tallest mountain mint stalks began to turn whitish.  

Scorcher

Bluebirds got away before I was ready but a Carolina wren, a blue jay, and a mockingbird were more cooperative.  The male cardinals continued their routine of stealing seeds and hot pursuit.  The afternoon temperature was in the upper 90s and, despite haze, the sun felt like a furnace.  I waited for shade before getting in the water.  A spider with a load of babies was willing to be rescued but a male was  suspicious.  I didn't see much else in the water.  After sunset I saw fireflies. 

 

Chilly water

The brown thrasher pair nibbled at the barkbutter balls K put out for the crow.  The crow did get some to.  Mockingbirds and blue jays preferred to eat from the hanging dishes but the mockingbird also ate some on the ground.  When the food on the ground was gone a brown thrasher protested.  When I got in the water, the sky had become clouded and the wind had grown stronger.  I rescued an assassin bug, a crane fly, a robber fly, a scarab beetle, a spider, and something that looked like a sawfly.  None of them hung around for a portrait.  

 

Monarch

Today was sunny and beautiful, cooler but not as windy.  A monarch discovered the patch of butterfly milkweed and fed off-and-on for half an hour.  When a Carolina wren landed on the nearby barkbutter dish, the butterfly seemed to be harassing the bird, flying toward it as though trying to drive it away.  

Later, blue jays and a mockingbird visited the dish but I did not see the butterfly.  I went for a late swim and saw a damselfly.  I fished out a spider, a ground beetle, a ladybug, a snail, and an earwig.  The spider and the beetle ran off but I'm not sure the others were alive.  Even though it wasn't windy, the air felt cold on my wet skin so I didn't linger to take pictures.  

Windy

After a long, long meeting I finally made it into the water.  The sun was hot in a deep blue sky and the water temperature was pleasant, but when I got out, the wind made an icicle of me.  The wind also filled the water with tree detritus and a few insects.  I rescued a small wasp and a brownish scarab beetle. Several tiny black spiders climbed around above the skimmer hole.  They were very shiny which made me think of black widows so I washed them out of my way.  Years ago, a black widow took up residence in one of the pool expansion joints.    The crow looked for treats and jays actually got them from the hanging dishes.  Two female cardinals had an altercation.  I saw a small butterfly that might have been a snout.  Something evil bit me in the armpit!

Beautiful weather

Yesterday's rain was still evident.  A titmouse was up early.  At lunch, K put BBBalls on the patio for the crow.  A blue jay preferred to eat from the dish.  The temperature got up into the 80s with a breeze under a brilliantly blue sky.  The milkweed was a riot of flowers but I didn't see pollinators.  The cardinals were still courting.  

Again there were spiders to rescue including another crab spider.  Two damselflies perched in the shade by the water.  After I swam, I saw a skink.  A squirrel scampered past me just a couple of feet away.  I could see something flying over under the sakaki but I don't know what.  A azure butterfly flitted over the house.  Another blue jay visited.  

 

Spider season

A Carolina wren poked through the seed trough.  I saw the first daylily flower, at least first for our yard.  The crow was back for another bath.  We got some sun in the early afternoon and I attacked the algae in the pool.  Several of the walks-on-water spiders avoided me but I persuaded one to move to dry land.  A crab spider was much more cooperative.  I also fished out a pretty little insect with black wings and a red head, possibly a wasp.  

Later in the afternoon we had a short deluge and a couple of thunder showers.   A crane fly tried to get through the window.  When the rain stopped a blue jay arrived and considered the wet barkbutter balls.  After dark, I saw a moth at a window.  

Crow bath

The male red bellied woodpecker clung to the glass dish in order to eat barkbutter balls.  The brown thrasher pair returned for the same reason.  A mockingbird dodged my camera but a blue jay ignored me.  The cardinals were still courting.  A goose family promenaded down the neighbors' back yard.  

The pool was opened today and the first one in was K's crow.  The bird stood on the top step and took a bath.  Milkweed flowers looked ready to pop open.   The little butterfly seemed to be circling the house because I always saw it headed in the same direction.  

 

Surprise shower

There was a little rain before I got up, but it dried and sunshine mixed with clouds.  A white breasted nuthatch, a mockingbird, and a red bellied woodpecker all escaped the camera.  A brown thrasher took its time and I took its picture.   A female bluebird made frequent visits.  (I still haven't seen any activity at the bluebird house.)  The squirrel was eating peppered suet again.  A titmouse got some seeds.  

One of the brown thrashers noticed the barkbutter balls that K put on the patio for the crow.   A blue jay found the dish feeder empty.  A crow swooped down on the barkbutter balls, scattering the other birds.  It wasn't greedy and a cardinal noticed there were some left.  

The surprise shower came after lunch.  The wind gusted and the sky darkened.  Rain streaked the North windows for about ten minutes.  Then the sun returned, accompanied by a bluebird.  A blue jay was close behind.  The red belly returned and this time I was lucky.  

Nuthatch

The sunshine was intermittent as there were a lot of clouds.  Some wind gusts flung the birdhouse around enough to addle eggs.  Today K tempted the crow with a buffet of seeds and barkbuter balls.  Both were found to be acceptable.  This particular crow had a noticeable beard.  I was whining about how little I had seen all day when a white breasted nuthatch kindly let me take some pictures.  A blue jay and a bluebird were in too much of a hurry.  

 

Pair of brown thrashers

A pair of brown thrashers visited several times on a lovely, sunlit day.  Despite the clear, blue sky, the temperature barely cleared 70° .  The breeze grew gusty at times.  A blue jay noticed noticed the barkbutter balls.  A bluebird ate seeds which were nearly empty.  The red belly fussed because I was too close to the seed feeder but a titmouse didn't care.  

At lunch, I spotted a tiger swallowtail resting on a dogwood twig.  It was right under the wild cherry so it might have been freshly emerged from a chrysalis.  Or it might just have been tired from laying eggs.  Eventually it took off.  

 

Cold

The day was gray and chilly with at least one shower and a fierce wind gust.  I saw all three woodpeckers at different times.  The female pileated was first, midway the red belly sneaked in, and the downy came last.  A brown thrasher showed up at least twice.  K's crow strutted up the steps to check if any fresh treats had materialized.  I caught a glimpse of something dark hovering around a red rose, maybe a hummer, maybe something else.  A few blue jays and bluebirds visited.  

Petrichor

Word of the day, petrichor is the name for the smell after a shower or light rain.  I learned this from a children's book, After the Rain by Eleanor Spicer Rice, but I wasn't that impressed with the book otherwise.  There was rain overnight but the day was sunny.  A blue jay posed on the railing.  The mockingbird didn't cooperate with the camera.  The female pileated came for suet.  

The milkweed buds were turning orange and an orange butterfly flew through the yard.  I saw a bud on the magnolia.  A Carolina wren inspected the feeders.  K tempted crows with french fries.  I saw the little butterfly I think was a Spring azure.  A bluebird visited.but the red belly was not willing to come to a feeder while I was outside.  The yellow cat sauntered up from the creek, then saw me and skedaddled.  

 

Showers & sun

Yesterday was really busy.  I glimpsed a white  breasted nuthatch on the seed feeder but I've nothing to show for it.  Cabbage whites flitted around and I saw a blue jay.  A squirrel has been eating the suet that was supposed to be too hot pepper flavored for squirrels.  The temperature warmed up and the wind wasn't so fierce.  This is where we held our celebration.

We had a rain shower at breakfast today and visits from a blue jay and a crow.  Bluebirds and a mockingbird showed up at lunch. A titmouse joined the seed eaters.  I have been persuaded that the bush I've been calling sakaki, Cleyera japonica, is actually a cheap substitute, False Japanese Cleyera, Ternstroemia gymnanthera .  They are related and look very similar.  But I am not absolutely convinced.

Gray

This day wasn't as warm as the last two but just as windy.  I saw bluebirds, blue jays, and not much else.  A squirrel ate "hot pepper" suet that's supposed to be squirrel-proof.  A left-over Cinco de Mayo squirrel, perhaps?

 

Windy

A mockingbird breakfasted on suet.  A squirrel coveted bird food.  Blue jays were thirsty.  I also saw a pine warbler and a bluebird drinking from the pool puddle.  A titmouse looked into barkbutter balls.  Our thermometer showed mid 80s but the wind kept it from seeming hot.  After lunch, I noticed that the hummer feeder seemed to be missing.  Somehow it had come unscrewed from the hook and fallen.  I put it back together and rehung it which may have been unwise.  A couple of hours later I saw a male hummer visit it.  I was too close to move and take a photo but the bird didn't stay long.  Was I too close or the sugar water gone off or the wind too much?  

Despite the wind, I saw a few butterflies, a dragonfly, and wasps.  Butterflies included the ubiquitous cabbage white, some kind of dark swallowtail, and some that were too quickly gone to guess.  Some kind of midge followed me into the house.  

Dragonfly

Today became sunny, quite warm, and very windy.  I was focused on getting photo proof that the white throats were still here and didn't realize I had chopped the head off a brown thrasher - I never saw it was there in the background.  A Carolina wren ate seeds and a bluebird ate what she found in the glass dish.  A blue jay picked at the barkbutter dust.  The bluebirds also ate seeds and the seed feeder perch kept rolling which flustered them.  The catbird was back.  So was the crow.  

A yellow dragonfly with rusty striped wings and matching eyes perched on a garden stake.   It was a painted skimmer, Libellula semifasciata, the first I've ever seen.  A very small butterfly kept circling the yard, never stopping for a photo.  I wasted many pixels.  My best guess would be a spring azure.  Wasps were flying around.  The male red bellied woodpecker ate mealworms while I was outside, a first.  A titmouse picked through the seeds.